On an
awards show that did not air live, there should be no surprises for the
producers or the viewers, and no chance for an accidental foul word to slip
out. However, on the E! cable network’s September 15th showing of
the 2007 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards producers blatantly misrated
the show, even though theyknew what kind of content was
going to air.

There
is no “L” descriptor that would indicate to parents the litany of foul language
on the program. This award show was not live like other awards shows; it had
been pre-taped and edited for time — yet the producers still chose to leave in
many bleeped words like “f-word,” “s-word,” “b*lls,” “d*ck” and “p*ssy.” There
were also un-bleeped words like “hell,” “damn,” and “bastard.”

For
example, Carlos Mencia, the host for this show, had this discussion about the
sound editor:

Carlos
Mencia: “…and a sound editor. He could cut all the bull [bleeped ‘shit’] out of
his own speeches. I apologize. I was going to say BS. I was back there and I
asked Elaine Stritch. I said, ‘Hey should I say BS or should I say the word?’
And she grabbed me by the [bleeped ‘balls’] and told me to ‘be a man you
[bleeped “fucking”] [bleeped “pussy”]’.”

And
this warrants a TV-PG? Just to be clear, the words were only bleeped, not
blurred, so the viewer could see what words Mencia was actually using. And this
wasn’t the only instance of these profanities being used by Mencia (or
presenters or award recipients, for that matter).

To
further add insult to injury, the award for “Most Outstanding Original Music and
Lyrics” went to Saturday Night Live‘s creators for the song “Dick in a
Box,” a skit in which Justin Timberlake sang a song about how to wrap a part of
the male anatomy in a gift box and then give it to a girlfriend. The producers
of the Creative Emmys decided to show clips of the song, during which Timberlake
sings, “One: cut a hole in the box. Two: put your junk in the box. Three: make
her open the box…” and later Timberlake sings, “It’s my [muted ‘dick’] in a box,
my [muted ‘dick’] in a box, girl. It’s my [bleeped ‘dick’] in a box, my
[bleeped ‘dick’] in a box, babe.”

At the
bottom of the screen, the song title is displayed: “Dick in a Box.”

Talk
about a sexually explicit song. Not only are there bleeped words, but there is
clear sexual dialogue which would warrant the “D” descriptor.

Clearly, the producers of this award show knew what they would be airing, yet
they chose not to warn parents of the objectionable content.

And
all the while, cable subscribing parents are forced to pay for programs while
reckless producers are allowed to constantly and consistently misrate shows.

******************

Also
of concern this week was a repeat episode of NCIS entitled “Angel of
Death” (originally aired on May 22, 2007 at 8:00 p.m. ET). On its first airing,
this episode had a TV-14 descriptor, even though there was some extremely
graphic violent content of a drug addict snorting heroin out of the intestines
of a corpse. (Read the PTC’s original press release on this episode
here.)

When
this episode was rerun on September 18, the rating had changed to TV-14 with the
“V” descriptor, and was pushed back to the 10:00 p.m. EST time slot —indicating
that CBS recognized that the show was misrated, and that the network now took
the necessary steps to warn parents of it’s particularly offensive content.

Despite the fact that the entertainment industry is in complete control of the
TV ratings, concerned families can still have an impact. Let the TV Ratings
Review Board know how you feel about inaccuracies like this by sending an email
to tvomb@usa.net . Working together, we
can make a difference and help protect kids from this type of graphic
programming.

Parents Television Council,
www.parentstv.org, PTC,
Clean Up TV Now, Because our children are watching, The
nation's most influential advocacy organization, Protecting
children against sex, violence and profanity in
entertainment, Parents Television Council Seal of Approval,
and Family Guide to Prime Time Television
are trademarks of the Parents Television Council.